BY SERGEI KLEBNIKOV | Last month, a posse of local residents circled the wagons to keep Boots & Saddle bar from relocating to their block.
The well-known West Village bar, at 76 Christopher St., had planned to move to new digs on Barrow St. because its building is being sold. But a coalition of local residents and neighborhood associations quickly cowboyed up to block the move.
On May 15, Boots & Saddle representatives appeared before Community Board 2’s State Liquor Authority Licensing Committee to present an application for a new on-premise liquor license for the vacant space, at 37 Barrow St.
After the relocation plan was announced, local opposition organized against it within a week, including the Bedford-Barrow-Commerce Block Association, with the support of the Christopher St. Patrol, a volunteer anti-crime group.
“The neighborhood got together and decided what would be best for the community,” said Kathy Donaldson, president of the B.B.C. Block Association. Six Barrow St. residents spoke at the C.B. 2 S.L.A. Committee meeting, with an additional 10 in attendance, some representing the two community groups.
The committee also received a petition with signatures of 16 residents opposed to the proposed Barrow St. move, as well as a letter of opposition from the Christopher St. Patrol.
A patrol member spoke against the issuance of a license, saying that in the last two or three years, Boots & Saddle had “seemingly changed their operation.”
Boots & Saddle had said its new location would be a “restaurant and bar serving American-style food.” But neighborhood residents described it as a “restaurant along the lines of Lips and Lucky Chengs,” two well-known former Downtown drag entertainment venues that have since moved Uptown.
Christopher St. Patrol volunteers, speaking about Boots & Saddle, cited increased “loud noise and disturbing actions coming from the bar,” and “crowds and unruly behavior on the street,” subsequently causing many complaints from neighbors.
“In the last couple of years, Boots & Saddle has gotten more troublesome,” a patrol member said.
The community board also received a letter from another block association, Waverly Bank 11 Neighbors, citing the concerns of Bank St. residents. It described how Lips had been an “ongoing nightmare for its neighbors” while located on Bank St. The association concluded by stating, “Any group of neighbors opposing such a venture has our sympathy and support.”
Barrow residents stressed the impact the business would have with its late-night operation — hours were to be 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. — on the otherwise quiet and residential neighborhood. In addition, Boots & Saddle would aggravate the area’s existing traffic issues, the antis said, plus the bar failed to provide a comprehensive plan to C.B. 2.
Residents argued that the volume of the music and entertainment at the bar would be a nuisance, especially because of the minimal soundproofing in the historic restaurant space that the bar would be moving into.
“It was a disaster as far as the neighborhood was concerned,” Donaldson said.
Boots & Saddle, described as the “best gay bar in the West Village” and the “NYC Premier House of Drag,” is also unlike any other type of business operated at 37 Barrow St. for the last 17 years, neighbors noted.
C.B. 2 ultimately recommended denial of a new on-premise liquor license for Boots & Saddle at the Barrow St. location, with the committee’s resolution subsequently passed unanimously by C.B. 2’s full board. The board’s resolutions are advisory only, but the landlord and the bar did not want to proceed in the face of the community board’s denial.
Gormley announced soon afterward that the bar’s lease for the new space had been pulled, as Boots & Saddle had withdrawn its application. Potential legal action against the relocation would have resulted in delays and compromises, using up time and resources, and it apparently just wasn’t worth it for the bar.
Boots & Saddle declined to comment.
